Darlington driver

[sreedev]

I see that Darlington driver comes with every PICAXE starter pack or at least 28*1 pack. What is the use of this IC?

 

[nick12ab]

I see that Darlington driver comes with every PICAXE starter pack or at least 28*1 pack. What is the use of this IC?

It allows higher current loads to be driven by the PICAXE, as the PICAXE pins themselves are only capable of ~20mA each and the chip total maximum is ~100mA but varies depending on the PICAXE (check the datasheets).

Also, it's PICAXE-28X1 ("twenty-eight ex one"), not PICAXE-28*1 ("twenty-eight times one").

 

[eclectic]

I see that Darlington driver comes with every PICAXE starter pack or at least 28*1 pack. What is the use of this IC?

Please see Manual 3, pages 6 and 7

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[Eclectica]

Hi sreedev,

As well as high currents, the darlington driver also allows high voltages to be switched too (up to 50V with the latest TI ULN2803A ICs.) and protects the picaxe from damage from back-emfs (if the motor or relay protection diodes fail for example).
They are simpler, quicker and cheaper than using MOSFETs, although perhaps not quite as elegant.

Regards
Eclectica